Original: Spanish inter-american commission on human rights



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INTRODUCTION


  1. This report addresses the human rights situation in Honduras and offers recommendations with the objective of assisting the State in the strengthening of its efforts to protect and guarantee human rights in the country.




  1. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (“Inter-American Commission” or “IACHR”) has monitored with special attention the human rights situation in the Republic of Honduras (“Honduras”, the “State”, or the “Honduran State”), through its various mechanisms, and has observed a number of structural issues concerning justice, security, marginalization, and discrimination, that have for decades impacted the human rights of its inhabitants. In particular, the Coup d’Etat of 2009 resulted in human rights violations that gravely impacted the Honduran population, some of the effects of which continue today and complicate the situation in the country




  1. For this reason, from 2009 to 2012 the IACHR decided to incorporate Honduras in Chapter IV of its Annual Report, pursuant to Article 59(1)(h) of its Rules of Procedure, because it considers that the situation falls within the applicable criteria. Honduras was again included in Chapter IV of the 2013 Annual Report because the Commission considered that the information received on human rights in the country fell under Article 59, paragraph 6(d), of the Rules of Procedure of the IACHR that came into effect on August 1st, 2013. That article refers to "the presence of other structural situations that seriously affect the enjoyment of fundamental rights enshrined in the American Declaration, the American Convention or other applicable human rights instruments." Among other factors to weigh appears the following: “i. serious institutional crises that infringe the enjoyment of human rights."




  1. The State of Honduras, through Official Memo SJDH-DM-0449-2013, dated August 21, 2013, extended an invitation to the Commission to conduct an on-site visit to Honduras in order to verify the human rights situation in the country. In a letter dated September 19, 2013, the Commission acknowledged the invitation and indicated its inability to conduct the visit in that year. In a communication dated August 19, 2014, and pursuant to discussions with the Honduran Government over the course of 2014, the Commission confirmed to Honduras that it would conduct an on-site visit to the country between December 1st and 5th, 2014. By Official Memo DSM-1000-2014, dated October 21, 2014, the State of Honduras reiterated to the Commission its commitment to facilitate the realization of the visit. Consequently, the Commission decided that the assessment of the human rights situation in Honduras would not be carried out through inclusion of Honduras in Chapter IV of the 2014 Annual Report, but instead by conducting an on-site visit according to Article 59 of the Rules of Procedure, and the subsequent drafting of a report on the situation in the country.




  1. The IACHR conducted the on-site visit from December 1st to December 5th, 2014. The visit was aimed at gathering relevant information on the human rights situation in the country, and assessing the actions taken by the State to address that situation.




  1. The delegation was led by the Chair of the IACHR, Tracy Robinson; the First Vice-Chair, Rose-Marie Belle Antoine; and Commissioners José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez, Rosa María Ortiz, Paulo Vannuchi, and James Cavallaro. Other members of the delegation included the IACHR Executive Secretary, Emilio Álvarez Icaza; the Assistant Executive Secretary, Elizabeth Abi Mershed; and the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Edison Lanza, as well as specialists from the Executive Secretariat.




  1. The Commission held meetings with State authorities from the three branches of government, civil society organizations, and others who came forward to present information concerning the human rights situation in Honduras. The Commission went to several different regions, without restrictions—including Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba, Tocoa, El Progreso, San Pedro Sula, Bajo Aguán, and Comayagua—and visited care centers for migrant children, as well as Garifuna peoples and peasant communities. The IACHR also visited the San Pedro Sula National Penitentiary in San Pedro Sula, the Comayagua National Penitentiary in Comayagua, and the Rehabilitation Center for Adolescents "Renaciendo". The Commission also visited the detention center at the facility of the “Los Cobras” special police force and of the Armed Forces, both located in the Department of Francisco Morazán, the “Renaciendo” Rehabilitation Center for Adolescents, the “Marco Aurelio Soto” National Penitentiary, and the detention centers located at the Army’s First and Third Infantry Battalions, located in the town of Naco, in the Department of Cortés.




  1. The IACHR met with the President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández; the Foreign Minister, Roberto Ochoa Madrid; the Secretary of Justice, Human Rights, Interior, and Decentralization, Rigoberto Chang Castillo; the Secretary of Labor and Social Security, Carlos Madero Erazo; the Deputy Foreign Minister, María del Carmen Nasser Selman; the Deputy Secretary of Justice and Human Rights, Karla Cuevas; the Secretary of Defense, Samuel Armando Reyes Rendón; the National Director of Investigation and Intelligence, Gen. Julián Pacheco Tinoco; the Secretary of Health, Edna Yolani Batres; the Attorney General of the Republic, Abraham Alvarenga; the Deputy Attorney General, Jorge Abilio Serrando; and the Director of Prosecutors in the Office of the Public Prosecutor, Rolando Edgardo Argueta. It also met with members of the Secretariat of Security; the Secretariat of Education; the Secretariat of the Development Sector and Social Inclusion; the State Secretariat in the Offices of Labor and Social Security; the National Human Rights Commission (CONADEH); the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture (CONAPREV); the National Prison Institute; the National Women’s Institute (INAM); the Department of Children, Youth, and Families; the Institute for Access to Public Information; the National Agrarian Institute; the National Institute on Migration; and the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL). In the city of San Pedro Sula, the IACHR met with the Deputy Mayor, Liliana Humaña, and other authorities. In the city of Tocoa, the Commission met with the Governor of Colón, Ghisell Padilla Pelayo; the Mayor, Adán Fúnez Martínez; the Coordinator of the Violent Deaths Unit of Bajo Aguán (UMVIBA), Javier Antonio Guzmán; the Attorney for UMVIBA, Mitzy Villatorio V.; the Commander of Operation Xatruch, Col. René Jovel Martínez; the Deputy Commissioner of Police Forces, Marco Tulio Cruz Aguilar; and a Representative of the Secretariat of Health, Jaime Rosales Anaya.




  1. The IACHR also met with the President of the National Congress, Mauricio Oliva Herrera, and congressional representatives. The Inter-American Commission also met with representatives of the Supreme Court, the National Council of the Judiciary, and the National Coordinating Committee of Criminal Court Judges.




  1. The IACHR met with the following civil society organizations: Asociación para una Ciudadanía Participativa (ACI-PARTICIPA), Asociación Civil Jóvenes Hondureños Adelante Juntos Avancemos (JAH-JA), Asociación de Defensores Públicos de Honduras (ASODEPH), Asociación de Fiscales de Honduras, Asociación Intermunicipal y Vigencia Social de Honduras (AIDEVISH), Asociación de Jueces por la Democracia (AJD), Asociación LGTB Arcoíris de Honduras (Asociación ARCOÍRIS), Asociación Libre Expresión, Asociación de Medios de Comunicación, Asociación de Medios Comunitarios de Honduras (AMCH), Asociación de la Prensa, Asociación de Productores Medicina (APROMENCOL), Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa (Honduras chapter of Transparency International), Asociación para una Vida Mejor de Personas Infectadas por el VIH/SIDA en Honduras (APUVIMEH), Asociadas por lo Justo (JASS), Atlántida, Brigadas Internacionales de Paz (PBI), Caritas de San Pedro Sula (CARITAS), Caritas Trujillo, Casa Alianza Honduras (CAH), Casa Asti, Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC), Centro de Derechos de Mujeres (CDM), Centro de Estudios para la Democracia (CESPAD), Centro de Estudios de la Mujer-Honduras (CEM-H), Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CIPRODEH), Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC), Centro de Prevención, Tratamiento y Rehabilitación de Víctimas de la Tortura (CPTRT), Centro de Productos Naturales (CENAT), Colectiva de Mujeres Hondureñas (CODEMUH), Colectivo Unidad Color Rosa (CUCR), Colegio Profesional Unión Magisterial de Honduras (COPRUMH), Colegio Profesional Superación Magisterial Hondureña (COLPROSUMAH), Colegio de Profesores de Educación Media de Honduras (COPEMH), Colonia Los Cedros, Comisión Ciudadana de Transparencia (CCT), Comisión Internacional de Juristas (CIJ), Comité de América Latina y del Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujeres-Honduras (CLADEM), Comité para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos en Honduras (CODEH), Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH), Comité por la Libre Expresión (C-Libre), Comité de Oxford para la Ayuda contra el Hambre (OXFAM), Comité Pro Defensa Aguán, Comunidad de Barra Vieja, Comunidad La Ceiba, Comunidad Gay Sampedrana para la Salud Integral (CGSSI), Comunidad Nueva Armenia, Comunidad Nueva Esperanza, Comunidad Santa Fe, Comunidad Santa Rosa de Aguán, Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH), Consejo Hondureño de la Empresa Privada (COHEP), Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos, Coordinadora de Instituciones Privadas por las Niñas, Niños, Adolescentes, Jóvenes y sus Derechos (COIPRODEN), Coordinadora de Organizaciones Populares del Aguán (COPA), Diario Tiempo, El Heraldo, Empresa Asociativa Campesina de Isletas (EACI), Equipo de Monitoreo Independiente de Honduras (EMIH), Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (ERIC-SJ), Escuela Raul Medrano, Federación de Tribus Pech de Honduras (FETRIPH), Federación Unitaria de Trabajadores de Honduras (FUTH), Foro de Mujeres por la Vida, Foro Nacional de Sida (FOROSIDA), Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular (FNRP), Fundación Alfredo Landaverde (FAL), Fundación Hondureña de Rehabilitación e Integración del Limitado (FUHRIL), Fundación Parque Nacional Pico Bonito (FUPNAPIB), Fundación Pestalozzi, Fundación San Alonso Rodríguez (FSAR), Gemelos de Honduras , Grupo Lésbico/Bisexual Litos (Go Lésbico), Grupo de Mujeres YAACHE, Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN), Hospital Atlántida, Iglesia Católica, Iglesia Evangélica Baustista Misr (IEBM), Instituto Oficial Unión y Esfuerzo (Unión y Esfuerzo), Instituto Psicopedagógico “Juana Leclerc” (IPJL), Instituto Tecnológico de Administración de Empresas (INTAE-SPS), Movimiento Ambientalista Santabarbarense (MAS), Movimiento Amplio por la Dignidad y la Justicia (MADJ), Movimiento Amplio Universitario (MAU), Movimiento Auténtico Reivindicador Campesino del Aguán (MARCA), Movimiento Campesino Refundación Gregorio Chávez (MCRGC), Movimiento Campesino Vallecito (MCV), Movimiento de Mujeres de la Colonia López Arellano (MOMUCLAA), Movimiento de Mujeres por la Paz Visitación Padilla, Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguán (MUCA), Municipal de San Pedro Sula, Observatorio Ecuménico Internacional de los Derechos Humanos (OEIDH), Observatorio Permanente de Derechos Humanos del Aguán (OPDHA), Oficina Municipal de la Mujer (OMM), Organización de Desarrollo Étnico Comunitario (ODECO), Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH), Pastoral Penitenciaria San Pedro Sula, Patronato Colonia D’Antoni, Patronato para el Desarrollo Cultural-La Ceiba (Patronato CD), Patronato Sambo Creek, Patronato Triunfo de la Cruz, SERSO – Jutiapa, Patronato 21 Oct., Pen Internacional-Honduras (PEN), Plan-Internacional, Plan-Internacional Honduras, Plan para la Niñez, Plataforma Agraria, Por el Derecho a una Alimentación Adecuada y a la Nutrición (FIAN-Honduras), Programa de Rehabilitación para Parálisis Cerebral (PREPACE ), Proyecto de Acompañamiento Internacional en Honduras (PROAH), Proyecto Alternativas y Oportunidades, Radio Alter Eco, Radios Comunitarias Lencas–COPINH, Radio Comunitaria Sugua–Sambo Creek, Radio Exclusiva de Tela, Radio Globo and Globo TV, Radio Progreso, Radio Valle de Ángeles, Red Balance, Red de Desarrollo Sostenible, Red Discapacidad Honduras, Red Lésbica CATTRACHAS (CATTRACHAS), Red de Mujeres Jóvenes de Cortés, Red de Mujeres Mariposas Libres, Red Nacional de Defensoras de Derechos Humanos en Honduras (RNDH), Representantes del Pueblo Tolupán, Servicios Técnicos, Legales y Económicos (SETELEC), Sindicato de Empleados Públicos de la Educación (SIEMPE), Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Empresa Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (STENEE), Sindicato de Trabajadores de la DEI (SITRADEI), Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Bebida y Similares (STIBYS), Sindicato de Trabajadores del Instituto Nacional Agrario (SITRAINA), Sindicato de Trabajadores de la DEI (SITRADEI), Sindicato de Trabajadores del Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (SITRAPANI), Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (SITRAUNAH), Tribuna de Mujeres contra los Femicidios (TMCF), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), YAAXCHE, and 45 TV.




  1. The Inter-American Commission also met with various agencies of the United Nations Organization (hereinafter “UN or United Nations”), including the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UN Women, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).




  1. This report is based on information that the Commission has collected and analyzed regarding the human rights situation in Honduras. To this end, the IACHR has relied on information received before, during, and after the on-site visit, its official investigations, inputs from the various mechanisms through which the IACHR has monitored the situation in the country, news reports, and decisions and recommendations of specialized international organizations, among other sources.




  1. On November 25, 2015, the IACHR sent to the Honduran State a copy of the preliminary draft of this report, and requested that it send its observations to it within a period of three weeks. On December 14, 2015, the State submitted its observations.




  1. The Commission thanks President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his Government for the invitation to conduct the visit, as well as for all the logistical support and other assistance that was provided to ensure the successful completion of the visit, particularly by the Secretariat of Human Rights. The Commission recognizes and appreciates the information provided by the Government as well as the Government’s openness to establishing a constructive dialogue with the IACHR. The Commission is also grateful for the hospitality with which the Government and the people of Honduras received its delegation. The IACHR highlights the willingness, support and cooperation manifested both in the planning and execution of the visit.




  1. The IACHR thanks all the people with whom it met during the visit, civil society, victims and relatives and values the information gathered and the testimonies received.




  1. This report is divided into eight chapters. The first is this introduction. The second concerns the public security situation in Honduras, the particular effect it has on certain groups. The third chapter addresses the State’s response and the reforms that have been adopted. The fourth chapter reviews the national institutions responsible for the protection of certain groups against violence, as well as existing protection mechanisms. The fifth chapter describes the situation of inequality and exclusion that particularly affects women, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants. The sixth chapter deals with the situation of freedom of expression in Honduras. The seventh chapter describes the situation of persons deprived of liberty and the eighth chapter includes the conclusions and recommendations of the report.

CHAPTER 2


CITIZEN SECURITY



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